Take a Break

These days, everyone wants to achieve more. More money, more published articles, more followers, more projects. We’re all guilty of that because that’s what we’re told to do by successful people.

But you just have to take a break now and again.

We have to somehow reward ourselves for all the hard work. Sure, hard work can make us more money and advance our career. But that's no good to us if we’re burnt out, unhappy and always busy.

Therefore, I argue that after doing things that require your full mental capacity, you deserve to take a break. For us, medical students, that’s predominantly studying.

Binge on a Netflix series. Watch a movie. Have an afternoon nap. Ignore the news.

It’s all worth it. In my experience, I always perform better after slacking for a few days straight. That clarity in my mind is what allows me to think and study better.

But there’s another useful by-product. When you relax, do something that requires low energy, you start thinking differently. Your mind has the time to process all the information that you consumed during the day…or days.

The results are new and amazing ideas and revelations.

Quentin Tarantino relaxes in a pool after a full day of writing. There, he comes up with new ideas, writes them down, and works on them the following day.

This is a part of medicine and medical school I don’t like (in our country, at least). Students just don’t get the time they need for themselves, even though they would be happier, more satisfied, and I guarantee would learn a lot better. But instead it’s just one exam after another.

That’s how it is, we can’t change that. But we can definitely take a break.